Data with a conscience.

If you want to actually help your community, this is for you.

Local groups. Nonprofits, both 501(c)(3)s and (c)(4)s. The people and institutions who fund this work, from individual donors to foundations. And the community banks, credit unions, and municipalities working alongside all of it, often without realizing how much they overlap. Think of it as a resource manual, for information and education.

Inspired groups, not enough support.

I keep running into very inspired local groups who want to help, and can’t get what they need. Money, sure. But much more so, staffing, and support that actually sticks around. Agencies that take weeks to respond. Almost no access to help for people who are unhoused, fighting addiction, or getting out of an abusive home. And that’s just off the top of my head.

The frustrating part? There are so many resources out there. Most people just never find them.

A data journalist at heart.

I’m a data journalist at heart, so this is where I report. What the studies say. What the data is showing, and what the signals are saying. Where the money goes, what the law actually says, and where the need is greatest in your own backyard.

I won’t tell you which organization to pick. You know your community better than I do. I just want you to see the whole landscape.

Maybe it’s our definition of “least” that needs the work.

Far too much focus is on the negative. I believe every person has good in them, every single one, and I want to see that build.

Most of it starts closer to home than we think. Stay local. Buy less. Vote in the midterms. Talk to your local representatives, and help the family next door. Get a little uncomfortable, too: confront your own biases, walk the parts of town you usually drive past, and listen. Especially to the people we’ve decided are the “least” of us.

A more equitable world starts with how we better them.